Darts formed of planar material



y 1, 1968 1.. D. SIEGLER 3,384,373

DARTS FORMED OF PLANAR MATERIAL Filed April 22, 1966 5 II I? 3 l L L I55 f S 5 FIG I 32 68 I A 34 s! V 22 79 27 45 25 48 49 33 35 I l y 4! I21 g 40 5 93 9! 43 20 FIG. 2 B

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INVENTOR 5 LAWRENCE DtSlEGLER United States Patent 3,384,373 DARTSFORMED 0F PLANAR MATERIAL Lawrence D. Siegler, 2965 Randy, FarmersBranch, Tex. 75234 Filed Apr. 22, 1966, Ser. No. 544,502 14 Claims. (Cl.273-1065) This invention relates to game equipment and more particularlyto darts.

An object of this invention is to provide a new and improved dart whichis of simple construction.

Still another object is to provide a dart which is formed of a feweasily assembled components.

Still another object is to provide a dart which may be stored or shippedin a knocked-down or flat disassembled condition or in assembled butflattened condition.

A further object is to provide a dart having a vertical planar bodypiece, a horizontal planar wing piece which is releasably secured to thebody piece and extends laterally outwardly from opposite sides of thebody piece, and a point secured to the forward end of the body piece.

A still further object is to provide a dart of the type describedwherein the body and wing pieces are formed of a light substance such asexpanded plastic.

A still further object is to provide a dart wherein the body and wingpieces are provided with complementary slots and lock portions, the lockportions of one piece being receivable in the slots of the other piece.

Another object is to provide a dart having a body piece provided with atleast one hook engageable by an elastic member by means of which thedart may be catapulted into the air.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be readilyapparent from the reading of the following description of a deviceconstruction in accordance with the invention, and reference to theaccompanying drawings thereof, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a dart embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the body piece of the dart;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view of the point of the piece;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view of the wing piece of the dart;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIGURE 1;and,

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary plan view of a modified form of the bodypiece.

Referring now to the drawings, the dart 10 embodying the inventionincludes a vertical planar body piece 11 formed of a relatively lightsubstance, such as Styrofoam. The body piece at its forward end isprovided with a front slot 12 which decreases in width forwardly beingdefined by the forwardly convergent facing surfaces 14 and 15. The rearend of the slot is defined by the vertical surface 16 of the body piece.The point 17 of the dart has a vertical forwardly tapering form, its topand bottom surfaces 18 and 19 converging forwardly so that when the rearportion of the point is inserted laterally from one side of the bodypiece into its front slot, the point is held against forward movementdue to the engagement of the forwardly convergent surfaces 14 and of thebody piece with the similarly forwardly convergent top and bottomsurfaces 18 and '19 of the point. Rearward movement of the pointrelative to the body piece is limited by the engagement of its rear endsurface 20 with the surface 16 of the body piece.

After the rear end portion of the point is inserted in the slot 13 ofthe body piece, a strip 21 of tape, one side of which is provided with asuitable pressure-sensitive adhesive, is wrapped about the body piece atthe front 3,384,373 Patented May 21, 1968 portion 22 thereof to hold thepoint against displacement from the slot. The front end portion of thepoint tapers forwardly to a very sharp end.

The front portion 22 of the body piece tapers forwardly having forwardlyconvergent top and bottom surfaces 23 and 24, respectively. The middleportion 25 of the body piece tapers rearwardly from the front portion 22being defined by the rearwardly convergent top and bottom surfaces 27and 28. The rear end portion 29 of the body piece provides top andbottom stabilizer fins 31 and 32, respectively. The top fin is definedby a rearwardly and upwardly extending surface 33, a substantiallyhorizontal rearwardly extending surface 34 and a downwardly andforwardly extending rear surface 35. Similarly, the bottom stabilizingfin is defined by a downwardly and rearwardly extending front surface37, a rearwardly extending bottom surface 38 and an upwardly andrearwardly inclined rear surface 39. The tail portion 40 of the bodypiece is defined by rearwardly convergent top and bottom surfaces 41 and42 and a rear vertical surface 43.

The body piece has a horizontally extending middle slot 46 and a rearslot 47. The slots 46 and 47 at their top ends are connected by an upperslit 48 which with the slots defines an upwardly extending lock portion49 which separates the two slots. A lower slit 51 extends rearwardlyfrom bottom of the rear slot 47 to the rear end of the tail portion 40.Theslits and slots thus divide the body piece into top and bottomportions A and B which extend rearwardly from the surface 52 definingthe front end of the body piece and which are resiliently laterallyflexible relative to each other.

The wing piece 55 of the dart has a front portion 56, defined by theforwardly convergent top and bottom surfaces 57 and 58, which isprovided with a forwardly opening slot 59 which opens at the frontsurface 60 of the wing piece. The intermediate portion 62 of the wingpiece is defined by the rearwardly convergent surfaces 63 and 64 thereofand has a slot 65 therein which is of substantially the same length asthe lock portion 49 of the body piece. The rear end portion of the wingpiece has horizontal laterally outwardly extending fins 67 and 68, thefin 67 being defined by the rearwardly and laterally outwardly extendingsurface 70, the rearwardly extending surface 71 and the forwardly andinwardly extending rear surface 72. Similarly, the other fin 62 of thewing piece is defined by a rearwardly and outwardly extending surface73, a rearwardly extending surface 74, and an inwardly and forwardlyextending rear surface 75. The wing piece has a rearwardly opening slot70. The widths of the slots of the "body and wing pieces aresubstantially equal to the thickness of the body and wing pieces.

The wing piece is assembled on the body piece by moving the upper andlower portions A and B of the body piece laterally in oppositedirections and then inserting the wing piece between the body pieceportions A and B and moving it forwardly relative thereto until the lockportion 79 of the body piece extending forwardly from the surface 52 isdisposed in the front slot 59 of the wing piece. At this time theforward movement of the wing piece is arrested by the engagement of thesurface 81 of the wing piece defining the rear end of its front slotwith the surface 52 of the body piece. The lock portion 82 of the wingpiece between its surface 81 and its surface 83 defining the forward endof its middle slot 65, being of the same length as the middle slot 46,is then received in the slot 46. The lock portion 49 of the body piece,which is of the same length as the wing piece middle slot 65, is nowreceived in the slot 65. The lock portion 87 of the wing piece, whichextends between its surfaces 88 and 85 defining the front ends of therear slot and the rear end of its middle slot respectively, being thesame length as the body piece rear slot 47, is then received in the rearslot 47, and the lock portion 89 of the body piece which extendsrearwardly from the surface 90 defining the rear end of the rear slot47, is disposed in the rear slot 70 of the wing piece. The two bodyportions A and B are moved back into vertical alignment and a strip 91of tape coated on one side with a pressure sensitive adhesive is wrappedaround the tail end portion of the body piece to hold the body portionsA and B against lateral displacement.

The two pieces of the dart are now held firmly to one another in thepositions illustrated in FIGURE 1, wherein the wing piece extendsperpendicularly to the body piece. Forward movement of the wing piecerelative to the body piece is now prevented due to the engagement of thesurfaces 81 and 85 of the wing piece defining the rear ends of its frontand middle slots with the surfaces 52 and 91 of the body piece definingthe front ends of its middle and rear slots 46 and 47.

Rearward movement of the wing piece is limited by the engagement of itssurfaces 83 and 88 defining the front ends of its middle and rear slotsand with the surfaces 93 and 90 of the body piece defining the rear endsof its slots 45 and 47. It will be apparent the provision of the lockportions 49 and 89 on the two lateral displaceable portions A and B ofthe body piece tends to equalize any forces exerted on the two bodyportions due to forward force exerted on the body piece relative to thewing piece as occurs when the dart is grasped by the body piece andthrown forwardly.

The dart may now be thrown in the usual manner by grasping the bodypiece below the wing piece and then throwing it forwardly. The fins ofthe two pieces stabilize its flight and the heavy metal point 17 assuresthat the front end thereof will always point in the direction of theflight of the dart.

It will be apparent that the dart can be packaged in a fiat conditionwith the two pieces separate so that the package is of very smalldimensions and that the wing piece can be easily assembled on the bodypiece and secured thereto merely by wrapping a strip of adhesive tapeabout the tail end portion 49 of the body piece.

It will further be seen that since the widths of the slots of the piecesare substantially equal to the thickness of the substance, such asStyrofoam, of which the two pieces are made, and since the slots of onepiece are substantially equal in length to the lock portions of theother piece which are received therein, the two pieces are firmly heldin their desired predetermined relationship when the two portions A andB of the body piece are held against lateral displacement relative toeach other by the adhesive strip 91 wrapped about the tail end portionsthereof.

Referring now to FIGURE 6 of the drawing, the body piece 11a is similarin structure to the body piece 11 and, accordingly, its elements havebeen provided with the same reference numerals to which the subscript ahas been added, as the corresponding elements of the body piece 11. Thebody piece 11a differs from the body piece 11 in having a pair ofrearwardly opening top and bottom hook portions 91 and 92. A rearportion of an elastic band, not shown, may be engaged by one of the hookportions and, while the front portion of the band is grasped in onehand, the body piece may be grapsed by the other hand and pulledrearwardly to stretch the elastic band. When the body piece is thenreleased the dart will be catapuled into the air by the band. It will beapparent that while the body piece has been shown provided with two hookportions, it could have only one.

It will now be seen that a new and improved dart has been illustratedand described which is of simple construction and whose component partsare easily assembled.

It will further be seen that the dart is held against forward andrearward movement relative to the body piece since its tapered rear endportion is received in the similarly tapered slot 12 of the body pieceand is held against lateral displacement from the slot by the strip 21.

It will further be seen that since the substance of which the two dartpieces are formed is somewhat resilient, such as Styrofoam, after thewing piece has been assembled on the body piece, one piece may be tiltedabout its longitudinal axis relative to the other piece, the two piecesdeforming resiliently, until it lies at angle of less than degreesrelative to the other piece to reduce the crosssectional dimensions of apackage in which it is to be stored or shipped, and that thereafter whenit is desired to use the dart, after it is removed from such package,the wing piece may be moved back to its perpendicular position relativeto the body piece.

The foregoing description of the invention is explanatory only, andchanges in the details of the construction illustrated may be made bythose skilled in the art, within the scope of the appended claims,without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A dart including: a vertical planar body piece; a point secured tosaid body piece at its front end and projecting forwardly therefrom; anda horizontal planar wing piece, said pieces having cooperable slot andlocking means comprising: in one of said pieces, a pair oflongitudinally extending and spaced slots, a slit between and connectingthe upper ends of said spaced slots, and a rearwardly opening slitextending from the bottom end of the rearmost of said spaced slots topermit lateral displacement of the upper and lower portions of said oneof said pieces; and in the other of said pieces, a front forwardlyopening slot, a middle slot, and a rearwardly opening rear slot, wherebyupon lateral displacement of the upper and lower portions of said firstnamed piece, said second piece may be assembled thereon.

2. The dart of claim 1, wherein said body piece has a forwardly openingslot which decreases forwardly in vertical width and said point has arear end portion of configuration corresponding to said slot anddisposed therein.

3. The dart of claim 1, and an adhesive tape about a front end portionof said body holding said point against displacement from said slot.

4. The dart of claim 3, wherein said body piece has top and bottomstabilizer fins adjacent its rear end portion.

5. The dart of claim 4, and means disposed rearwardly of said wing pieceholding said upper and lower portions of said one of said pieces againstlateral displacement relative to one another.

6. The dart of claim 1, and means disposed rearwardly of said wing pieceholding said upper and lower portions of said one of said pieces againstlateral displacement relative to one another.

7. The dart of claim 6, wherein said body piece has a forwardly openingslot which decreases forwardly in Vertical width and said point has arear end portion of configuration corresponding to said slot anddisposed therein.

8. A dart including: a planar vertical body piece having alongitudinally extending middle slot and a longitudinally extending rearslot, said body piece having a slit conmeeting said middle and rearslots at their top ends, said body piece having a rear slit extendingrearwardly from the bottom of said rear slot to the rear end of saidbody piece, said slots and said slits dividing said body portion intoupper and lower portions displaceable laterally relative to one another;a planar horizontal wing piece, said wing piece having a front forwardlyopening front slot, a middle slot, and a rear rearwardly opening slot,said front and rear slots defining therebetween a front lock portion ofsaid wing piece and said middle and rear slots defining a rear lockportion of said wing piece, said front lock portion of said wing piecebeing disposed in said middle slot of said body piece, said middle lockportion of said wing piece being disposed in said rear slot of said bodypiece, said body piece having a middle lock portion between its middleand rear slots disposed in said middle slot of said wing piece, saidbody piece having front and rear lock portions extending forwardly andrearwardly from its middle and rear slots disposed in said front andrear slots of said wing piece.

9. The dart of claim 8, wherein said body piece has a front forwardlyopening slot, said front slot of said body piece decreasing in verticalwidth forwardly; and a point having a rear end portion of configurationcorresponding to said slot disposed therewith and a front end portionprojecting forwardly of said body piece.

10. The dart of claim 9, and means extending about a front end portionof said body holding said point against displacement from said slot ofsaid body piece.

11. The dart of claim 10, and means disposed about the tail end portionof said vertical body piece rearwardly of said wing piece holding saidupper and lower portions against lateral displacement relative to oneanother.

12. The dart of claim 8, and means disposed about the tail end portionof said vertical body piece rearwardly of said wing piece holding saidupper and lower portions against lateral displacement relative to oneanother.

13. The dart of claim 12, wherein said body piece has a downwardlyextending rearwardly opening hook poltion adjacent its front end whichis adapted to be engaged by a means for catapulting the dart into theair.

14. The dart of claim 1, wherein said body piece has a downwardlyextending rearwardly opening hook portion adjacent its front end whichis adapted to be engaged by a means for catapulting the dart into theair.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS RICHARD C. PINKHAM, PrimaryExaminer.

P. E. SHAPIRO, Assistant Examiner.

1. A DART INCLUDING: A VERTICAL PLANAR BODY PIECE; A POINT SECURED TOSAID BODY PIECE AT ITS FRONT END AND PROJECTING FORWARDLY THEREFROM; ANDA HORIZONTAL PLANAR WING PIECE, SAID PIECES HAVING COOPERABLE SLOT ANDLOCKING MEANS COMPRISING: IN ONE OF SAID PIECES, A PAIR OFLONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING AND SPACED SLOTS, A SLIT BETWEEN AND CONNECTINGTHE UPPER ENDS OF SAID SPACED SLOTS, AND A REARWARDLY OPENING SLITEXTENDING FROM THE BOTTOM END OF THE REARMOST OF SAID SPACED SLOTS TOPERMIT LATEAL DISPLACEMENT OF THE UPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS OF SAID ONEOF SAID PIECES; AND IN THE OTHER OF SAID PIECES, A FRONT FORWARDLYOPENING SLOT, A MIDDLE SLOT, AND A REARWARDLY OPENING REAR SLOT, WHEREBYUPON LATERAL DISPLACEMENT OF THE UPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS OF SAID FIRSTNAMED PIECE, SAID SECOND PIECE MAY BE ASSEMBLED THEREON. PIECE MAY BEASSEMBLED THEREON.